RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 1996 AD in Tarraco, Oza is the sharp-witted assistant to Vittoria Creedus in Neo-Carthage’s Bizarre Bazaar. With the help of her pet skunk whose spray erases memories, she quietly steals from unsuspecting customers while keeping up appearances. Oza’s cleverness keeps her schemes hidden, but in a city where secrets are dangerous currency, her luck may not last forever.
Born in 222 AD in Burdigala, Tilda grew up as a rebellious youth, often staying out all night fighting and reveling in the streets. One night she was picked up by a gang of time traffickers who pressed her into service as a gladiator in the 28th century. She made it her mission to return home to her grieving family.
Born in 106 AD in Tarraco, Spain, Gertrudis was a soldier in the fabled legion of vampire hunters who traveled through dimensional portals seeking to destroy the antediluvian scourge across space and time.
Born 1915 AD in Flavia Solva within an atompunk alternate dimension under Roman global hegemony, Maccus is a criminologist working for the Empire to root out communist infiltrators, employing cybernetic torture techniques to extract confessions; meanwhile, he secretly engages in necrophilic reanimation experiments with the undead.
Born 141 AD in Rome, Acquilina is a loyal temple guard who is always on the lookout for her troublesome sister, Eleanora, who frequently sneaks through the interdimensional portal in search of a good party.
Born 199 BC in Pella, Philip was enslaved by the Romans after losing the Third Macedonian War, then forced to fight as a gladiator for the entertainment of the masses. However, at the moment of glorious death in battle, his consciousness was ‘freejacked’ by time-traffickers to the 23rd century AD Britannia where he battles in a cloned body for the Interdimensional Cybergladiator League (ICL) on a squad sponsored by the Algorand Foundation, known as the AlgoSaxons.
Born 288 AD, Scout was born to parents exiled to Britannia after their defeat by Probus in 278 AD. Having won multiple archery contests, she was captured by time traffickers from a Romanesque 20th century AD alternate dimension to compete as a shopping mall gladiator.
Born 1998 in Dyrrachium, Dardana is a superstar singer who was abducted by time traffickers and forced to perform in Diocletian’s palace as the Emperor’s personal chanteuse.
Born 2125 AD in Leptis Magna, Octimius is the North African legate to Rome, using his diplomatic status to smuggle rare artifacts, interdimensional tech, and military-grade cybernetics to the Empire’s extraterrestrial elite. A trusted ally of Neo-Carthage’s governor and the cyborg Emperor Caligula, Falco leverages bribes, blackmail, and insider deals to maintain his untouchable position. His operations fuel the dark underbelly of Roman society, making him indispensable—and untouchable—in the empire’s most dangerous circles.
Born 2488 AD in Ancyra, Draven comes from a long line of notorious highfalutin slave traders. He uses advanced telescopic lenses to scout his victims interdimensionally, then dispatches time traffickers through a portal to kidnap them as slaves for his base entertainment empire of lewd karaoke clubs, casinos, and virtual brothels in 26th century AD Neo-Byzantium. Charismatic yet ruthless, Draven’s influence extends back to ancient Galatia, long a haven for the effete elite, including covert colonialist cyborgs.
Born in 404 AD in Corduba, Alaviv Goar, illegitimate son of King Genseric, fought bravely with the Vandal hordes as they sacked Africa, but was later forced to live a life of exile as a gladiator in the colosseum of Thysdrus in Carthage.
Born in 108 BC in Tarsus, Dex was a formidable pirate who was captured during Sulla’s purges and forced into interdimensional slavery mining titanium on the Jovian moon of Io where he operates a covert methamphetamine trafficking ring.
Born in 202 BC in Carthage, Zibqet is an illegitimate child of the Roman General Scipio Africanus. Her natural fighting talents brought her to the legion along with her sister Elissa. The two eventually went AWOL through a dimensional portal and flourished as vigilantes in a 22nd century dystopian megacity.
Born 2423 AD in Atuatuca, Dovina is known for her fierce intelligence and rebellious spirit. In her early twenties, she entered the Miss Metaverse pageant, using the platform to advocate against sexual harassment. Dovina made headlines when she publicly accused a clone of Julius Caesar of groping her during the 2500-year anniversary of his victory in Gaul. This bold move sparked controversy, but her courage inspired a movement for justice and equality.
Born in 2169 AD in Syracusae, Zino was a logistics officer in Rome’s hellacious campaign against the Dacian vampire scourge. Now a pencil-necked attorney and accountant for the profligate Governor Mazar, Zino finds himself torn between helping his old comrades uncover the grisly murder of a cyborg pleasurebot and maintaining his precarious position in the baroque society of Neo-Carthage. The stakes are even higher as suspicions point towards his employer, forcing Zino to navigate a perilous path where loyalty and self-preservation are constantly at odds.
